The Inverted Enemy
by AlinoValiant
Summary: In the burning desert of Scaraba, there was a stronger relative of the yellow pink-haired dinosaurs. They were the Great Crested Bookas. Whether they held the same affectionate personality as their lesser counterparts or not could only be found out in one way... (AU, Sequel to A Striped Companion)


**The Inverted Enemy**

"We're here in this Scaraba Desert," said Angel, who was now in her champion form as Kyubimon. "What is our objective?"

"Well, simply put, I want to look for a Great Crested Booka," Agon explained as he peered over the scorching sands. "I know it seems like a waste of time, but I'm curious to see if they are in the same manner of friendliness as the ones from Dusty Dunes. I have this assumption that they could be related or something. Just a man's hope is all."

"Good enough for me. Well, just say the word and I'll be real close to you. I'm always happy to accompany you in your journey."

The twenty-six year old smiled at the nine-tailed fox. He was glad as usual to be with his protective companion, who constantly watched his back at all times. After he embraced Angel, he shifted his attention to the Crested Booka.

"Time for another adventure. Interested?" he asked the striped creature.

She nodded, gesturing him to her back. Agon raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure about this? I'm aware that some animals aren't so eager to be used as mounts. I can walk after all."

The pink-haired dinosaur answered his question by gently pulling him toward her, using the tail. He was placed on top of her large round body. A bright smile appeared on her lips, which seemed to tell the young man that she trusted him and was willing to do this. Agon couldn't help but chuckle merrily.

"Well, if you insist, then let's go for it by all means. This is quite a copacetic sight: a man with his spectacular friends." he said to the Booka and the Kyubimon.

The Crested Booka returned a wink directed at him, while Angel's cobalt eyes glanced at Agon with great mirthfulness. He himself felt shamelessly rapturous.

He double-checked his inventory: the Suppressor 02 (SMG), Crowd Control (LMG), extra ammunition, new black armor, a satchel with some bottles of water and rations and a set of silver knuckles in both of his hands. A noise of verification indicated that he was all good.

"Yeah, this is fine. Let's move." concluded Agon with a quick nod of his bald head.

The trio scouted the northern desert, the baking sun upon them with its heat rays. There were many palm trees scattered around and a load of yellow sand. Over the distance, some ancient egyptian pyramids were visible. No UFOs or Marauder Octobots wandered about, but there was a Dread Skelpion or two and the rare Master Criminal Worm. It didn't take a lot of time before Agon and company encountered a male Great Crested Booka. Up close, the striped creature was exactly the same as its Dusty Dunes counterpart, only they had a white and purple color scheme; they also had pink eyes.

As Agon dismounted the yellow Crested Booka and approached the Great Crested Booka, he said, "Ah... you're the one I'm looking for. How's it going?"

The inverted dinosaur gave him an antagonistic stare that seemed almost hateful. The young human flinched from this.

"Whoa, I'm not an enemy and neither are my two companions here," remarked Agon defensively as he pointed to Angel and the pink-haired Booka. "We just want to be your friends."

He attempted to pet the purple striped animal, but recoiled when his hand was nearly bitten off. The Great Crested Booka growled at him; this one was clearly ill-tempered and aggressive in comparison to the regular version. Agon backed away a couple of feet.

"Take it easy, I don't want to fight you. Just calm down now..." the twenty-six year old said, trying to pacify the creature. Angel and the yellow striped dinosaur looked over the two of them in worry.

"Nice and steady, I'm going to give you a little hug..." continued Agon softly. "I do not wish for there to be any beef between us. Here we go."

He brought his arms out and carefully walked over to the pink-eyed Booka. At first, it appeared that this was going to happen. Both the short human and the purple striped creature embraced each other. Almost immediately following this, the Great Crested Booka suddenly clamped his teeth down on Agon's left shoulder.

"Aaaaaarghhh! You deceiving bastard! I had no evil intentions toward you!" he bellowed angrily as the white and purple dinosaur applied more pressure onto his shoulder.

Agon and the violent beast were separated when Angel rushed in with a headbutt. While she fought the Great Crested Booka, the yellow striped Booka ran over to the downed man and shielded him from attack. Soon after, everything became quiet. The Kyubimon dashed to the other two and addressed Agon.

"Are you all right? That fiendish creature was eating away at your shoulder just a moment ago." she said with concern.

"Yeah... didn't think shit was gonna go down like that though," Agon responded while clutching his half-consumed shoulder. "I can't understand why he attacked me. I was only trying to be friendly..."

"I suppose he didn't see things your way, sadly. Let me help you with that injury."

The bald-headed man chose to be slightly stubborn. He shook his head as he stood up clumsily.

"Don't you worry about me," he said nonchalantly, failing to do so when his facial expression protested the physical trauma. "What's a missing shoulder to me anyway?"

"Oh you," Angel said teasingly as she was engulfed in a bright orange light. The fox Digimon was evolving into her ultimate form, Magimon. "I find it amusing every time you play the tough guy routine. Just let me heal you for once."

And indeed, after the transformation was completed, Angel was now wearing a full body silver cloak with a hood. She had a dark gray scarf, black pants and visible purple gloves that contained golden shield symbols. Her entire upper body was shirtless while her white-tipped tail protruded from underneath the cloak. She was also approximately nine feet tall and was basically a modified Taomon. The Magimon cast a restoration spell on Agon; his wounded shoulder was sealed up and good as new.

"In all seriousness, thank you. I'm thrilled to have a wonderful guardian angel like you." Agon exclaimed appreciatively with a broad smile.

"Always happy to assist you friend," said Angel, beaming back happily. "I do not enjoy the thought of you in danger. We should be a bit more cautious next time."

"Right. I may have been a bit too optimistic anyway. Let's look for more of the Great Crested Bookas and hope that one of them is amiable, like my cute friend here." he said, beckoning to the pink-haired Crested Booka, who had given him a cuddly hug before whisking him onto her back again.

All three searched the rest of the northern desert. They had met several more of the inverted dinosaurs, of which the results were about the same. Each one was similarly rancorous, malevolent and adamant in their generally bad attitudes. When Agon, Angel and the yellow Crested Booka made their way to a river that separated the north and south, the light-brown man looked extremely irritated and slightly demoralized.

"Seriously, what the fuck is their problem?" Agon pondered out loud, his face donning an exasperated expression. "I'm just holding out an olive branch and every time, they've tried to bite off my limbs. In addition, there's also their growling, hissing and venomous stares of death. The Bookas from the Dusty Dunes Desert were far kinder than these ones. Why all the hostility?"

"I can't say for certain that I know the answer..." replied Angel, once again healing her human companion of wounds inflicted by the bestial pink-eyed Bookas. "Maybe they just hate you for no particular reason, it's possible."

"Could be, could be," agreed Agon dolefully. Even with his overall good-nature, it did not guarantee that everyone and everything he would meet would be his ally. "I'm still hoping that there will be at least one..."

The nine foot cloaked vixen hugged the little man, attempting to cheer him up.

"Me too, Agon. Let's not give up just yet. Perhaps if we travel through the southern part of this scorching desert, there may be one out there that doesn't want to attack us."

Agon nodded as he glanced over the river and into the distance.

"Yeah... and even if this doesn't work out, I have the both of you." he said with a small heartfelt smile.

He caressed the Crested Booka he was still mounted on; the striped creature turned her head around and licked him. A big grin appeared on her face afterwards.

"Yes, that is perfectly true. You have us as your friends," said Angel affectionately. "I've noticed that this specific one has really taken a liking to you."

"I definitely like her too. She brings such a great feeling in my heart."

After a few more minutes of conversation, they proceeded to the southern section of Scaraba Desert. Angel warped to the other side while the Crested Booka had a running start, effectively leaping over the river. The trio combed this part of the desert; no UFOs or Marauder Octobots were present here either. There weren't as many Great Crested Bookas here in plain sight, but their disposition remained the same. It wasn't until the three arrived at the end of the desert that they witnessed something rather shocking.

A handful of the white and purple dinosaurs were present. However, they appeared to be focused upon something as they were circled around. In the middle, there was a Crested Booka like the one Agon was riding upon. She was brutally wounded from these fierce counterparts and it seemed like they were about to finish the job. Their faces were that of ravenous hounds detecting the scent of fresh blood.

"I don't believe this..." murmured Agon furiously, taking out both his Suppressor 02 SMG and Crowd Control LMG. "Those Bookas are beating on the one in the center. I'm not about to stand idle and let this abomination occur any longer."

He dismounted and charged forward. The moment he had pulled the triggers, the circle of Great Crested Bookas shifted their attention toward him. With psychotic hate in their rose-colored eyes, they engaged him in combat. Agon flashed a maddening grin as he let out a raging roar. The silver cloaked fox nodded encouragingly, clearly rooting for him while the pink-haired Booka ran to assist the twenty-six year old.

"You want someone to fight? Get **me** instead, you sadistic beasts!" Agon had yelled out in the midst of gunfire.

Meanwhile, Angel tended to the injured Crested Booka and channelled a translucent shield around the two of them. She concentrated the rest of her power on the restoration ability. The damage on the downed striped creature was being cured before her blue eyes. A moment later, the Booka was up. Outside of the protective enchantment, the battle was still ongoing. The initial wave had already been killed, but reinforcements had come out from a forest of palm trees close by and entered the fray.

"You'll be safe here. I must attend to my friends." stated Angel gently before moving to aid the two.

The fight dragged on for a long period of time. During this time, the non-combat Booka watched the rest of the action with curious eyes. Finally, the rest of the Great Crested Bookas were eliminated. Agon, Angel and the friendly Booka returned to the recently healed creature.

"Are you okay?" he asked the other Booka.

She responded to him with a nod of her head. Agon wore a look of relief, letting out a deep sigh to emphasize this impression.

"Oh, that's good. I'm glad you didn't die in front of us. And I take it that those Great Crested Bookas **aren't** your friends?"

She shook her head; her contemptuous expression had answered the question.

"They were punishing you hard. I couldn't just sit back and allow you to get killed like that. Is this your native homeland?"

Again, the rescued Crested Booka shook her head.

"Hmm... then I won't bother asking how you got here in the first place," Agon went on in a dismissive tone. "The important thing is to get you out of here. I'm sure more of your counterparts might show up at any moment now." He turned to the Digimon in her ultimate form and said, "Angel, will you be able to teleport us to the Dusty Dunes Desert?"

"Of course. Just say the word as usual." she said, now awaiting his signal.

Agon nodded before focusing his gaze upon the recovered Booka.

"It's completely up to you though," he explained kindly. "Would you like to come with us to safety? If you choose to do so, I'm positive that your friends back at Dusty Dunes will welcome you big time. Better to go there than remain here and consort with these savages."

He was now convinced that the Great Crested Bookas were definitely enemies. Unlike their warmhearted relatives, these ones were full of immorality within. It was unfortunate, but not the end of the world because he preferred the yellow striped dinosaurs. Perhaps there was more to it than a mere palette swap... The Crested Booka and the Great Crested Booka were polar opposites in this case.

"I'm sorry about this Angel," said Agon ashamedly. "I let my curiosity get the better of me. I thought that these Bookas would have shown me the same amount of friendliness. Boy, was I ever wrong."

"It's okay, the adventure was worth it," replied Angel in a calm voice. "At least you know for sure now." Switching to a caring tone, she said, "Look on the bright side: I love you and I will always be there for you. I'm your friend and guardian angel after all. Even the kindest individual will be received poorly by someone, but it doesn't mean anything as long as you have your personal selection of loyal friends on your side."

"Those are some impressive words. You're right though, I've got you and her. That's more than I could ever ask for." Agon pointed out, gazing at the Crested Booka he had rode on earlier.

Both she and the cloaked vixen embraced him; he motioned the other Crested Booka to join in. This display of affection had turned into a group hug. The bald-headed man noted to himself that this was the first time he had ever participated in a group hug. It gave him a warm and fuzzy feeling. However, all four abruptly broke the affectionate exchange when more of the Great Crested Bookas appeared to crash this love fest.

"Seriously? You guys don't wanna give it up or something? Back off." said Agon in a firm voice, taking out his two weapons.

Angel and the two Crested Bookas got into battle stances. They, too, also had looks of grim determination. One of the inverted dinosaurs taunted the company; he did this by sliding a finger across his long neck. Agon started forward, but pulled back. He had an even better idea in his mind.

'_I already fought earlier. I'll let you have this one._' he said mentally, knowing that Angel would read his thoughts by telepathy.

'_You're too kind Agon. They do not stand a chance against me._' the nine foot Digimon said as she stepped forward.

While the Great Crested Bookas pressed toward her, she narrowed her frigid blue eyes and brought her paws together. Just in front of her was a plethora of conjured living weapons: swords, maces, axes, polearms, even staves. Angel folded her arms with a tiny smirk, content to stand back and watch the scene unravel. Sure enough, the belligerent Bookas were being sliced, diced, impaled and crushed by the created weapons. Only two remained after a few seconds of this massacre.

Angel took out a one-handed staff imbued with elemental properties from her left sleeve. As fast as lightning, she rushed toward the pair of Great Crested Bookas. She performed a quick spinning attack that struck both of them; they had become encased in ice upon impact. While the two striped creatures were frozen, Angel threw her staff upwards. It had split into two perfectly before she caught them midair. The cloaked kitsune hurled both staves in opposite directions, hitting the frozen Bookas on their heads. Immediately after they were hit, the staves were pulled back toward her paws. The ice shattered into hundreds of glass-like shards afterwards.

As Angel turned to face Agon and the two yellow Crested Bookas, she said, "How was that?"

"Far better than what I could do," answered the dark-brown eyed human, applauding her. "You certainly weren't exaggerating about your abilities. Makes a normal man like myself nothing compared to you."

"Well, for a normal human being, you've demonstrated much endurance yourself. You're a capable fighter who also has a lot of courage and respect for his friends. You have an open personality reserved for those closest to you and that tells me a warm heart is within you. Regardless of your limitations, you'll always be my friend. You mean a lot more to me than you may realize."

Though Agon heard this type of speech from Angel many times in the past, his affection for the golden fox rose up to an astounding elevation. He beamed at her while his dark eyes shone with euphoria.

"You truly are an angel," he exclaimed joyfully. "I don't know what things would have been like if I had never met you. Since that time, we've really gotten unimaginably close to each other. I wouldn't have it any other way. Now that it's hopefully clear, I think it's the best time to get on out of here, yes?"

Angel and the two Crested Bookas nodded in unison. The Magimon motioned the other three toward her.

"A sound plan. Stay close to me and I'll perform the teleportation spell." she said as the usual white light began covering the entire group.

A few seconds later, the company vanished on the spot.

* * *

><p>They reached their destination of Dusty Dunes Desert. The rescued Crested Booka dashed to her other friends, who had all welcomed her with open arms. The trio smiled at this touching reunion with good feelings in their hearts and minds.<p>

"You'll be just fine here... These ones are way friendlier than your barbaric relatives in Scaraba Desert," Agon commented, staring at the bunch of pink-haired dinosaurs gathered together. "At least I found out their true colors."

He turned his eyes toward the Crested Booka beside him. She had sidled up to him, her head rubbing against his own affectionately. He gently stroked her with both hands.

"I love you." he murmured to the striped creature. Upon hearing those three words, she wrapped her ample body around the bald-headed man.

He couldn't help himself yet again as he basked in this meaningful companionship with his favorite enemy in Earthbound. This was too awesome to describe in mere words. A personal experience like this could only be told by actually going through it yourself. Agon liked her so much that he had a sudden inspiration in his mind.

"I want to give you a name. But what to use...?" he uttered to the Crested Booka.

He explored the different possibilities in his mental process for minutes. The content facial expression slowly appearing on him indicated that he finally came up with a name.

"How about Celia? Is that an all right name for you?" he questioned the yellow striped dinosaur.

She smiled at him. It seemed that the name was good to her. Agon clapped his hands together.

"Yes! Then you shall be known as Celia the Crested Booka. Mmm... a nice name..." The twenty-six year old looked at the nine foot fox. "What's your opinion, Angel? Will it work?"

"It's a superb name. I think she'll be more than able to live with that." said Angel cheerfully.

"There you go, my pink-haired friend. You now have a name." said Agon to the Crested Booka officially recognized as Celia.

She tightened her hold on him as she planted a kiss on the top of his head. He blushed, having been kissed a lot more than he would have ever imagined in his life. Angel giggled at his complexion; she found it cute whenever the short human was flushed from affection. Several minutes passed by as Celia showed no signs of releasing Agon.

"I don't think she wants to let go of me right now. Neither do I, to be frank." he remarked with a grin.

"Don't expect to be free for a while," said Angel, smirking while she walked toward the two. "It's only getting started."

The cloaked vixen closed her arms around both Agon and Celia. The one-on-one cuddle session had just transformed into a triple hug. The young man didn't care anymore as he would glad accept all this love. To him, it was never too much.

"I'm fine with that," said Agon happily as he was practically smothered in between the two. "I love the both of you. I'm eternally ecstatic to have such fantastic companions."

Angel and Celia merely beamed at him while the affectionate moment went on with no interruptions. If Hooktail had been here now, the twenty-six year old would have been in seventh heaven. Aw hell, he already was. This was a happy ending for him.

**(What can I say? I really love the Crested Booka, enough to make her into a character for my future stories. I can guarantee that you'll be seeing her a lot more often. It should be quite obvious that the OCs in this were already developed a while ago, so don't concern yourself about it. That said, you all have a fine day now.)**

**(Should mention that when I say Hooktail, I mean the one from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. I did not create a character with that name. My mistake on clarification.)**


End file.
